Rape trial suicide prompts review

Lindsay's family say she was "tortured" by the ordeal

The way rape victims are treated in court is to be reviewed by Scotland's most senior legal officer after a teenage girl committed suicide weeks after giving evidence against her attacker.

Lindsay Armstrong, 17, took an overdose of anti-depressants shortly after her rapist, who was 14 at the time of the attack, was convicted.

During the trial she had had to hold up the underwear she was wearing at the time of the attack.

Lindsay Armstrong took a fatal overdose

The case has prompted calls for changes to the way rape victims are treated in court.

The Crown Office has confirmed that Lord Advocate Colin Boyd had requested full details of the trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

"The procurator fiscal in Ayr is investigating the circumstances of her death and he will request a meeting with Lindsay's parents," said a spokeswoman.

The Lord Advocate is also considering a request for a meeting from Lindsay's parents, Linda and Frank.

A 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty last month of raping Lindsay near her home in New Cumnock, Ayrshire on 7 September last year.

He was sentenced to four years' detention.

'Humiliation'

After Lindsay's death on 16 July, her mother told how her daughter was driven to suicide to "find peace".

The teenager's parents said the trauma of her ordeal had been too much for her and she was humiliated by the rape and her experience in the witness box.

Linda Armstrong said that the accused had been the first person her daughter saw when she arrived at court for the trial.

"He was standing outside the court door and Lindsay was petrified straight away," she told BBC Scotland.

Both parents said they hoped lessons would be learned from the tragedy.